Arsenic removal for ceramic water filters

Abstract

Arsenic in drinking water is a hazard to human health and is a known carcinogen (Mass 1992). Resource Development International – Cambodia (RDIC) has researched, developed, and manufactured simple ceramic water fi lters (CWF) which have proved to be extremely effective in removing pathogens from water. These fi lters however, do not remove arsenic from water, which exists in the source water at levels above the World Health Organisation (WHO) guideline of 10μg/L. The aims of this literature based study were to investigate conventional and non-conventional arsenic removal processes, and to discuss the options for applying an arsenic removal technology to the CWFs produced by RDIC. It was found that conventional arsenic removal technologies are diffi cult to implement in the context of household water treatment in a developing country. This study suggested that non-conventional arsenic removal technologies shall be more effective and that field studies must be undertaken to verify the success of such methods.